Translation

Desterro, Brazil,

12. August 1865

My dear Sir,

A few days ago I received your essay on climbing plants, and I hasten
to express my thanks for this valuable gift. I have read it with the greatest
interest and I am very happy that my attention has been directed to these remarkable
plants which are so extraordinarily plentiful in our Flora. In a couple of
days I collected in the surroundings of
Desterro, after I had read your work, the following genera of climbing plants:
Spirally twining:
Dioscorea, Alströmeria (subgenus Bomarea, Boussingaultia,
Hebanthe, (Goruplerina), Aristolochia, Micania, Manettia,
Condylocarpon, Echites, Prestonia, Oxypetalum and a few other
Asclepiads, Tournefortia, Ipomoea (numerous species), Calonyction,
Cuscuta, Thunbergia (introduced), Mendozia, Cocculus (?), Davilla,
Anchietia, Tetrapterys, Peixotoa, Brachypteris (?), Thryallis, Dicella,
Dalechampia, Mucuna, Caravillia;leaf climbers: Clematis, Fumaria
(introduced) Tropaeolum; Tendril bearers: Smilax, Mutisia, Strychnos,
Haplolophium, Bignonia (numerous species), Cissus, Passiflora (6 species),
Momordica, Sechium (cultivated) and various other Cucurbitaceae,
Serjania, Paullinia, various Papilionaceae; Hook-climbers: Galium
(Relbunium Endlicher) Buttneria, Rubus; Root-climbers: Vanilla,
various Aroids, Piper. I can add the genera Lygodium, Blumenbachia,
Solandra, Combretum, Tragia, which I saw earlier in other parts of our
province. Since until now I have paid no particular attention to
climbing plants, I am not at present able to give you any information on
their habits.

For a translation of this letter, see Correspondence vol. 13,
Appendix I. According to Alfred Möller, all Fritz Müller's
letters to CD were written in English (see Möller ed. 1915--21, 2:
72 n.); most of them have not been found. Many of the letters were later sent
by Francis Darwin to Möller, who translated them into German for his Fritz
Müller: Werke, Briefe und Leben (Möller ed. 1915--21).
Möller also found final drafts of some Müller letters among the Fritz
Müller papers and included these in their original English form
(ibid., 2: 72 n). Where the original English versions are missing, the
published version, usually appearing in German translation, has been used. See also
n. 11, below.

Bomarea is now considered to be a separate genus of the family
Alstroemeriaceae.

+

f4 4881a.f4

Hebanthe is a synonym of Pfaffia.

+

f5 4881a.f5

This is probably a misspelling or incorrect transcription of Gomphrena
(Amaranthaceae). Although Gomphrena has few climbers, there is one climbing
species, G. vaga, which is found in the vicinity of Destêrro
(Florianópolis).

+

f6 4881a.f6

A misspelling of Mikania (see letter from Fritz Müller,
[12 and 31 August, and 10 October 1865] and
n. 18).

+

f7 4881a.f7

A misspelling of Brachypterys.

+

f8 4881a.f8

A misspelling or incorrect transcription of Canavalia.

+

f9 4881a.f9

Müller refers to Galium, subgenus Relbunium, as described
in Endlicher 1836--42, p. 523. Relbunium is now considered to
be a distinct genus.

+

f10 4881a.f10

Müller resided in Destêrro on Santa Catarina Island off the coast
of the state of Santa Catarina, Brazil. Destêrro is now
Florianópolis.

+

f11 4881a.f11

Part of the missing portion of this letter was submitted by CD, together with
extracts from other letters from Müller to CD on climbing plants, to the
Linnean Society. The resulting paper was read on 7 December 1865, and
published in the 29 November 1866 issue of the Journal of
the Linnean Society (Botany) (see letter from Fritz Müller,
[12 and 31 August, and 10 October 1865], and Müller
1865b). When CD was preparing the letters for publication, he informed Müller
that he had `slightly modified the arrangement of some parts & altered only a
few words' (letter to Fritz Müller, 17 October [1865]; see also letter
to Fritz Müller, 9 December [1865]; for more on the modifications made
to Müller's letters, see the letter to J. D. Hooker,
3 October [1865], and the letter to Daniel Oliver, 20 October [1865]).